Inevitable
by Scarlet Phlame
Summary: She was there. Donna was there. Right in front of him. She was so close, he could touch her. But she was still so far, too impossibly far. He could see Donna but all she could see was a man named John Smith. And it broke his heart. (I own nothing.) Donna/Ten. Slight crossover with Once Upon A Time.


She saw him. She heard him. She watched him.

She knew him.

Not always.

He was there when the darkness came. When hope was at its end he was there. He was always there, drifting amongst the shadows. Always there. Never staying. Never lingering.

But he was there. She saw him and she knew him.

How?

"Doctor," she said.

* * *

"Right, so, I've traced the signal and it's pointing towards... this way!" the Doctor said, running in one direction towards a building. Regina watched him run and she chuckled.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwait," the Doctor said. "That's not right, is it?"

"Let me see that," Regina said, taking the funny-looking device into her hand. "What is it, anyway?"

"A... uh... sonicy-wonicy device thingy," the Doctor said. "It detects psychic energy. See, humans all have this sort of... telepathic field. It's very minuscule, but the last time I was here I noticed something off."

"Riiight," Regina said, frowning. "Why's it so... ugly!"

"Oy!" the Doctor exclaimed, snatching it back. "It is not ugly."

"Fine, why's it look so... odd?"

"It does not look odd," the Doctor said. "Imagine what you look like to it. All pink and black." Regina's hand shot up to her hair.

"It does not have eyes," she stated simply.

"Sometimes I think the same about you," the Doctor joked. "Now, let's see... if I can just..." he whacked it several times with the palm of his hand. "Oh, come on!"

"Is this normal with you?" Regina asked, watching the Doctor whack the device and fuss.

"I can always send you back home," the Doctor said quickly.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Regina said haughtily. "Now, I don't think hitting it is gonna make it work."

"Oh, you'd be surprised, see what a little hammer can do," the Doctor said with a grin. "AHA! Here we go. It's... this-a-way!"

"Please, never say that again," Regina deadpanned.

"Oh," the Doctor said.

"What?" Regina asked. "What is it?"

"No," he said. "It's just... it sounds like something one of my old friends would've said, is all." he took off, Regina trailing behind, his eyes fixed on the device.

"And that is...?"

"Nobody," the Doctor said quickly. "Aha! Here we are-" he looked up and froze. "Oh."

"Doctor," Donna said.

"What?" the Doctor asked, his tone dropping low. "What?"

"I know you," Donna said, before blinking. "Oh, sorry, it's just... I don't know what came over me. I'm Donna. Donna Noble. Sorry about that. It's just sometimes I get this... weird feeling. Like I've forgotten something and..." she sighed. "Anyway, who're you?"

"The D- John Smith," he said quickly. "And this is my friend, Regina."

"Partner in crime," Regina joked, shaking Donna's hand. A strange look crossed her face but it was gone in a moment.

"So what's that all about, then?" Donna asked, looking at the beeping device. The Doctor looked down at it as well.

"Oh, it's just... a... thing," he said finally.

"Yeah, I know, what does it do?" Donna asked. "I mean, I've seen it before somewhere. Can't really recall, maybe in a little shop or something."

"It does... things," the Doctor said, before quickly changing the subject. "What are you doing standing in the middle of the road, anyway?"

"I don't actually really know," Donna said after a pause. "'Cause I know it sounds daft, but I just felt like I needed to be here."

"Right," Regina said with a slight glance at the Doctor. "Mind if I talk to mister for a moment here?"

"Huh?"

Pause.

"Oh, right, yeah," the Doctor said. "Sorry, I have to, er, go. Stuff."

"Yeah," Regina said. "Stuff."

* * *

"Who was she?" Regina asked once they were back in the TARDIS. "You knew her, obviously, but she didn't know you. Or didn't remember you."

"Regeneration," the Doctor covered quickly. "There's this, um, thing I do. When I'm about to die. I sort of change my face. Like renewal."

"You mean like reincarnation, only you keep your memories?" Regina tried.

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor said. "Like reincarnation."

"I see," Regina said. "Wow, I could do with that. It's like, natural plastic surgery."

"No," the Doctor said sternly. "Don't put it like that."

"So, wait, you changed and then she didn't recognize you, right?" Regina asked.

"I guess, yeah," the Doctor lied.

"Quite right, too," Regina said with a grin. "How could anyone forget that face, with the sticky-uppy hair that looks like... umm... a mountain?"

"Oy!" the Doctor moaned. "It's not... oh, forget it. Humans!" Regina giggled.

"Oh, shoot! Did you forget about the psychic thing?" she wondered suddenly.

"It was Donna," the Doctor said. "I think she's remembering. Psychic energy resembling that of a Time Lord... drawing me in... she's still fighting, trying to get me back," the Doctor chuckled.

"She's a Time Lord? What? What are you talking about, what do you mean?" Regina asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just don't think about that," the Doctor said hastily. "Talking to myself."

"Again," Regina said. "Well, lucky you've got me, or else you'd be talking to this thing." she gestured to the TARDIS. "And don't pretend there's nothing going on, too, 'cause I saw you petting that door one time."

"One time!" the Doctor said. "It was once. Just one time. You hear me? Just once!"

"Uh-huh," Regina said.

"You are impossible," the Doctor groaned, just as Regina's cell rang.

"Ooops," she said, looking at the contact. "Sorry. I need to take this. Hello?" she wandered off into the back of the TARDIS.

The Doctor leaned back on the chair, closing his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again and looked at the monitor, he saw Donna standing outside.


End file.
